Murdered Math Teacher Asked 14-Year-Old Suspect to Stay After School
Police have released more information about the tragic murder of Danvers High School math teacher Colleen Ritzer: According to several witnesses, Ritzer caught Philip Chism, the 14-year-old student accused of murdering her, drawing in her class and asked him to stay after school.
“He just gave a nod,” said Rania Rhaedaoui, a freshman who sat near Chism. “There was a test coming up, and she wanted to know if he had any questions.”
After Ritzer first noticed the sketching, she remarked matter of factly, “I didn’t know you could draw,” Rhaedaoui said.
Another student saw the tall, lanky teenager still in Ritzer’s classroom more than an hour after the class, the last of the day, ended shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday.
“She was standing at her computer, and he was just sitting there,” said Cambria Cloutier. “It just looked normal, like any other day.”
Not long after, surveillance cameras caught Chism following Ritzer into the woman's restroom and leaving several minutes later, covered in blood. Chism then dragged Ritzer's body to the woods, covered it with leaves, and changed out of his bloody clothes, according to WHDH.
Later that afternoon, Chism reportedly told his soccer teammates that he would miss practice and walked to a movie theater, where he was the only customer for a 4:15 showing of Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine. After the movie, Chism ate at a nearby Wendy's, where, according to WHDH, he paid for his meal with Ritzer's credit card. Approximately five hours later, police arrested him as he walked alongside a highway.
Police still haven't released a motive for the crime.
“This is an active and very fluid investigation, and it is inappropriate for me to make any comments about the possible findings of that investigation while it is ongoing,’’ Carrie Kimball Monahan, a spokeswoman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, told the Boston Globe.
[Image via AP]